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Warning: spoilers for ‘Dance of the Dragons’ ahead:

Last week’s Game of Thrones episode featured the horrific burning of a young girl – Stannis’ daughter, Shireen Baratheon. It was in fact Stannis that agreed to burn his own daughter as a sacrifice to the God of Light. This sacrifice was conducted in order to be able to give Melisandre the magical powers she needed to allow Stannis’ army to break through the snow and ice and march forward.

Since the episode aired a number of people asked me to write about the psychology behind fanaticism and human sacrifice. Human and animal sacrifice has been around ever since humanity had religious beliefs.

What makes people engage in human sacrifice? To do so, let’s first talk about fear and control. GoT mythos aside, most human beings are generally uncomfortable with situations they have no control over. Situations where people feel out of control often trigger anxiety, or even panic attacks. The fear center of the brain (the amygdala) tends to be pretty active at this time.

When confronted with anxiety-provoking situations, people usually look for some kind of an escape or relief from this emotion. Some people try to control their emotions by taking medications, some pray/meditate, some avoid anything that could be even remotely anxiety provoking (like flying or traveling away from home, for example), and others perform OCD-like rituals. Some rituals that people do in order to control their anxiety might be to avoid walking on cracks on the pavement, complete tasks a specific number of times (e.g., 3 times or an even number of times), while others are more extreme and might even involve sacrificing humans or animals. If a task was not performed and something even remotely unpleasant occurs, people will often use that as evidence that they are being punished for failing to complete the ritual, whereas if the task is completed, any potential success might be attributed to the ritual rather than a coincidence. In fact, research studies show that in high stress situations people are more likely to be more superstitious than in low stress situations.

How are such anxieties and ritualistic behaviors treated in therapy? In general, anxiety disorders, including OCD, are most commonly treated with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This therapy aims to reduce dysfunctional thought by using logic and rational reasoning, as well as to help the client face their fears in a gradual and adaptive manner without engaging in rituals, and of course, any therapist who learns of a client’s potential plan to engage in human sacrifice would be required to report it.

In the case of GoT, it is true that Melisandre possesses magical powers and Stannis is faced with a choice of two conflicting values – his daughter or his mission. He elects to sacrifice his daughter, the very same girl he previously rescued from Greyscale. For Stannis, he might have taken this ruthless action because of a role that he was placed in. When people are placed in certain roles, like ruler, follower, prisoner, or prison guard, they are likely to change their behaviors according to the role expectations.

In the early 1970’s a Stanford psychologist, Philip Zimbardo, ran an experiment where he randomly assigned some students to play the role of prisoners and others the roles of prison guards. The results of this study changed the way we now understand authority and torture. Within days the prison guards became abusive toward the prisoners, torturing and humiliating them. The experiment had to be cut short due to the severity of emotional distress experienced by the prisoners, many of whom developed PTSD. The results of this study find that when people are placed in a certain role, they might behave in way that they never otherwise would.

It seems likely that Stannis, being placed in the role of a king, is behaving more extremely and ruthlessly than he otherwise would have because he believes that it is what is expected of him. Sacrificing his daughter was certainly an extreme action and her cries in the fire were truly excruciating to watch.

Game-of-thrones-Shireen

Dr. Janina Scarlet is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, a scientist, and a full time geek. She uses Superhero Therapy to help patients with anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and PTSD at the Center for Stress and Anxiety Management and Sharp Memorial Hospital. Dr. Scarlet also teaches at Alliant International University, San Diego. Her book, Superhero Therapy, is expected to be released in July 2016 with Little, Brown Book Group. If you would like to learn more about Superhero Therapy, please feel free to contact Dr. Janina Scarlet via Twitter @shadowquill, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Shadow.Scarletl, or via her website at www.superhero-therapy.com

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Dr. Janina Scarlet

Dr. Janina Scarlet is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, a scientist, and a full time geek. She uses Superhero Therapy to help patients with anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and PTSD at the Center for Stress and Anxiety Management and Sharp Memorial Hospital. Dr. Scarlet also teaches at Alliant International University, San Diego. Her book, Superhero Therapy, is expected to be released in 2016 with Little, Brown Book Group.If you would like to learn more about Superhero Therapy, please feel free to contact Dr. Janina Scarlet via Twitter@shadowquill, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Shadow.Scarletl, or via her website at www.superhero-therapy.com